(Ted Oberg, KTRK 13 News)
Thursday night] was supposed to be the last night of shelter for dozens of homeless Houstonians. After running out of money, the Bread of Life “After Dark” shelter was supposed to close Thursday. But they somehow cobbled together enough cash to stay open for a few months more.

If Houston’s economy is, as we’ve been often told, the economic envy of the nation, this is a part of Houston that no one envies. A snapshot away from our shiny skyline are the unmistakable signs of the thousands of Houstonians who live on our streets.

Dana Hogan with Bread of Life said, “At any given time, you will have individuals just camped out either underneath the bridge, on the sidewalks, in this particular area.”

It is a block away from the Bread of Life homeless program, where men and women line up to race in for one of a shrinking number of overnight spots. This isn’t an easy spot to get. Homeless man Jeff Griddine said, “It stays full. It’s constantly full. It’s full now.”

In October, Bread of Life was sheltering 150 to 200 homeless men and women every night. When they ran out of federal stimulus funding that kept the program open in October, that number dropped to 50 and it was about to drop to zero.

But Bread of Life and St. John’s Methodist Church came up with cash to eke out another 60 days of shelter, and will take the time to aggressively raise private money. Public dollars for homeless services are tough to come by.(See the full story at KTRK 13 News)